Finding the Road
by AVMabs
Summary: 15 years after DL-6, Edgeworth still hasn't recovered properly. A regular powercut reveals to Franziska and Gumshoe just how much a doctor will benifit him.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This has been floating in my head for a while so... GO!**

**Prologue**

The lights went out. He was trapped with only two other people, a clear headed perfectionist and one who would panic. Murmurs, that was all, just murmurs of worry and confused contemplation. It was going to be okay. _It was going to be okay_. The voices were rising to normal volume now; he was okay with that, it wasn't ideal but he was okay. He was fine. Someone touched him and he whimpered - he didn't need to be touched right now. The hand flinched away and he heard a loud, all too familiar _crack_. Then a squeal that was unlike that which he knew of young, but it still scared him far too much.

The lights came back on. He was fine. This time, it was true, he really _was _fine.

**That was short. Give me time, it's a prologue, it's meant to be short... that was n00bish.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Next chappie time ^_^**

The power came back on, flickering at first before slightly tiredly coming back on fully. Miles was in his office, not an elevator and the only other people in the room were Franziska and Gumshoe who were both looking at him like he was a bomb that was set to go off. Still, it was better than being trapped in a small, airless enclosure with his father and a virtually insane baliff.

"H-hey pal, you okay?" Gumshoe asked, slightly apprehensively. He sighed, they were now _treating _him like an unexploded bomb.

He tried to reply but found that his voice was barely plausible, making it add to the tenseness of the room.

"Fine, I'm okay. I'm fine." His tone wasn't as reassuring he'd intended.

Miles shut his eyes and took a deep breath in, hearing Franziska scoff as he did so.

"Fool! Do you have any idea what happened while the lights were out?" She asked the question sharply though Miles swore he heard hints of concern laced in her voice. He remembered though, at least, he remembered what was in his head.

"I was in the elevator. My father and Yanni Yogi were whispering, they then talked normally for a while... I don't want to speak anymore..." Miles knew full well what came after that but he and Franziska both knew that it was hard to talk about for either of them.

"Fine. Do you have any other physical symptoms that you would benefit from a doctor?" Miles sighed, Franziska seemed to be hell bent on getting testimony from him.

"I'm always tired. I've got a headache. Nothing special..." Miles mumbled this, slightly frank, annoyed statement. Franziska looked a little skeptical.

"See someone."

"What?"

"Go to see a doctor."

"Franziska..." Miles' tone was becoming a little cautious - God knows the woman was stubborn.

Franziska reached one hand into her pocket, sliding it around until she found what she was looking for. It was a mirror, a little pale blue pocket mirror. She opened it and handed it to Miles, who took it with a confused expression on his face.

"What do you see?"

"Is that a trick question?"

"No."

"Myself." Franziska seemed to have rehearsed this in her head a few times as she replied almost immediately.

"Really? You're a fool. Scruffy!"

"Y-yes pal?"

"What do you see when you look at Miles Edgeworth?"

"...Um..."

"Okay Scuffy, considering your foolish incompetence, I'll rephrase that. What do see in his behaviour?"

Gumshoe could answer that one.

"He seems upset or angry a lot and he never seems to smile."

Franziska thought for a while before giving her final assesment.

"Good enough. Miles Edgeworth, I see pain when I look at you, you're an unhappy person who needs help. You're stuck in the same place all the time." Franziska was annoying, but this proved that she _cared. _Still, Miles didn't want to see a doctor.

"Franziska, don't give me that. You ran back to German-"

"Shut up! You have no idea-"

"I went to the airp-"

"This is different! You're clearly ill, I was studying!"

"It's the same principal!"

"You're lying!"

Miles was just plainly pissed by now, so much so that he stood up on still shaking legs and walked straight out of the door. He'd thrown the mirror down as he left, shattering the thin glass and breaking the hinge to the two parts of the mirror.

"Um, Miss Von Karma, pal. Should I go after him?" Gumshoe was clearly nervous. Franziska didn't blame him.

"Yes. He needs to reimburse me for my mirror."

"Yes sir!"

Gumshoe left the room clumsily, tripping over several different pieces of furniture on his way out. Franziska watched him leave, restraining her hand with much willpower, from floating over to her whip. After the door had been kicked shut, Franziska sat down and put her head in her hands. Miles Edgeworth was going to get the appropriate help, even if she had to tie her whip around him to do so. She began to look for some paperwork, trying to wile away some time before Gumshoe came back with Miles. As she was doing so, she came across some old papers that looked out of place. She picked up the papers by a corner and as she did so, a small card fell out from between pages 6 and 7. She picked it up and intended to put it back into her desk when some of the writing caught her eye.

_Trauma councilling_

_Pop in or call us on 04462698334*_

Franziska remembered this, it was given to her on the day she found out her father died. Goodness knows what her big sister thought she needed that for. Still, this was it. Call this number and Miles Edgeworth wouldn't have a choice but to get help. She picked up a perfectly charged cell phone and dialed the listed number.

_"Hello?"_

_"Hello, I'd like to request councilling for my step-brother."_

_"Name, please?"_

_"Franziska Von Karma."_

_"Do you want to book one session or multiple sessions?"_

_"Multiple."_

_"Can we see you tomorrow then please?"_

_"Time?"_

_"Is five in the evening okay?"_

_"Yes."_

_"See you then."_

_"Thank you."_

Franziska listened to the line go dead before hanging up herself. It was at that moment that Miles and Gumshoe walked in. Miles seemed a little more shaky than he did before he did before he walked out of the office. That was all Franziska needed.

"Cancel all appointments for tomorrow afternoon."

"Why?"

"I booked multiple councilling sessions for you."

"Franziska, that was by no means needed."

"I don't care."

"I don't need help!"

Miles watched in irritation as Franziska held her left hand out.

"Give the hand to me Miles."

Miles complied.

"You're shaking, you had another flashback."

Franziska released her hand.

"You're going."

Miles sighed.

"I give up, wild mare. If it will shut you up, fine."

"Change your tone!"

Suddenly, everything changed, the atmosphere was somehow lighter than it had initially been and, for the first time in a month, Miles allowed himself a sincere smile.

**A/N: *Not a real phone number**

**I hope you enjoyed that chapter. First person to guess correctly who the councillor is going to be gets a oneshot/ drabble of their choice.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry I skipped a day of writing ^^; - school's been dramatic. But I'm here now. Also readers, I'm disappointed that no-one guessed... *hugs you all anyway*. Apologies if it's a shit chapter, I don't feel well. This chapter has spoilers too. Also, language warning and hints of previous P x E.**

The next day went by relatively quickly, Miles had always been an efficient worker and the fact that he worked later than he had to meant that should he have to take a half day or finish earlier than he wished to, he would be up to date anyway. At exactly four thirty in the afternoon, Franziska announced to him that they would be leaving for his first session. Reluctantly, Miles put his fountain pen in a small crimson red leather case that also held a tipex pen, ink cartridges and a biro. He was closing it when Franziska interjected.

"Bring a pen, Miles Edgeworth, you're going to want to take some notes."

"I thought that was the counciller's job."

"Okay then, _I'm _going to want to take notes."

"_You _will be in the waiting room."

"Bring one anyway."

"Okay."

Miles wished he'd reverted to typing a long time ago.

Miles and Franziska made their way through a relatively full parking lot to the shiny silver car that belonged to Franziska.

"Do you have any idea who my counciller is?"

"No, just that she's female and felt that she couldn't return to her previous job."

"I see."

The rest of the car journey went by in nervous silence. The fact that his counciller didn't sound very experienced made him nervous. He then proceded to smile as he thought of Phoenix and how he had absolutely and undeniably won every case he'd had against him on his first few cases as a defence attorney. Wright had even won a case that he'd lost, it was a shame that he'd gone and gotten himself disbarred.

"You're smiling." Franziska had always liked to state the obvious to seem clever.

"Well done Franziska."

"What about?"

"I was thinking about Wright."

"Do you two still keep in contact?"

"No."

"I thought you were-"

"That was a long time ago."

"I overstepped, didn't I." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"Yes. Yes you did."

"Sorry, it was just... well..."

"Well what?"

"Nothing."

"Tell me."

"I'm perfect. Perfection need not speak to convey it's point."

Miles sighed and gave up at that point. He looked out of the window at the Autumn trees and marvelled at how each one could look so full and finished when in a couple of months they'd look broken and barren. It was, once again like Phoenix. He'd seen him once since he was disbarred and he didn't look like Phoenix Wright, he looked like an empty shell. Wright had turned into Adrian Andrews - without his daughter, Wright would be nothing. He was brought out of his musings when the car stopped.

"Ready?"

"Yes."

"Ready yourself more, we're early."

The clinic was just the average clinic. It had a clean white outside with the clinic's name written in blue.

"Franziska, can we just go in, I'd like to see the inside."

"Fine."

The inside was somewhat average, faded blue fabric chairs and a table with woman's magazines on it. Miles watched Franziska as she reached out and took a random magazine. He didn't think she was actually reading it - it was upside down. The few minutes that they had to wait dragged by in nervous silence until a young woman spoke.

"Miles Edgeworth?"

"Yes."

"Your counciller is in room 107."

"Thank you."

Miles stood up and just for once allowed Franziska to come with him to the session - she would be dangerous on her own in an empty room. Miles opened the door to the room slowly. Inside was a bloody familiar face - he knew his counciller very, very well.

"Prosecutor Skye?"

"Just Lana now, Prosecutor Edgeworth." Lana smiled as she said that, apparently a number of years in detention hadn't taken a toll on her personality.

"It-It's been ten years..."

"Still as sharp as ever, aren't you Prosecutor?"

"How's your sister."

"Still a perfectionist - she never was very good at sucking it up and taking the hits."

"What do you mean by that?"

"She ended up as a detective rather than a scientist."

"Wait... Shouldn't I have seen her around?"

"No, she works under Prosecutor Gavin."

"I pity her."

"Anyway, take a seat,"

Miles did so.

"I take it you've been having flashbacks to DL-6."

"Yes."

"You're tired."

"Yes."

"How much sleep do you get a night?"

"It varies."

"On average?"

"Two to four."

Miles could have sworn that he saw Franziska writing something down.

"How often do you reach the third stage of sleep?"

"Considering I'm woken up by dreams a lot..."

"Okay then, no you don't, you reach the second stage and then wake up."

"I know."

"I know you know. Anyway, back to the subject of the flashbacks."

"I don't like to talk about them..."

"Okay, fair enough."

"So, do you deem me worthy of multiple sessions?"

"Yes, yeah I do."

Miles sighed and glared at Franziska as she gave him the trademark 'I told you so' smirk.

"Why?"

"How long have your symptoms been going on for?"

"Answer my question."

"I need to have an answer for this to be sure."

"Fifteen years."

"Edgeworth, you have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, I trust you know what it is."

"Yes."

"Okay, the session's over. I'll see you next week, same time, same room."

Miles nodded and stood up. He was interrupted by Lana as he turned the handle on the door.

"Phoenix Wright and his daughter are probably outside."

This didn't please Miles in the slightest and he prolonged the stay in the office only to let Franziska through the door first so that he could be the one to slam it.

"Watch how you act around her Miles."

"Why?"

"Because she's fragile too."

"Hngh."

Miles dragged his feet slightly, stopping every few seconds.

"Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"You will have to see Phoenix Wright whether you like it or not."

Miles didn't reply. He didn't want to, instead he just walked behind Franziska. He wanted to sink into a wall and hide forever.

"Stop trying to hide from him."

Miles sighed heavily and looked at the floor as they walked through the waiting room.

"Daddy, isn't he the man in the picture on your piano?"

"Yeah."

"Why don't you say hello?"

"...Awkward tension."

"Break it."

"Can't."

"Why?"

"Things happened."

"What kind of things?"

"I'll tell you when you're older."

"_I'll _say hello."

"No, Trucy, please don't!"

It was too late, Trucy had already sprung out of her seat and made her way towards Miles and Franziska.

"Hiya!"

"H-hello..."

"Trucy, sit down."

"Why?"

"_Now_ or I will ground you."

"I'm already grounded for getting detention, remember?"

"Just go and sit down."

Trucy crossed her arms and stormed huffily back to her seat.

Miles frowned at Phoenix.

"What are you doing here..."

"Apprentice is convinced I'm depressed."

Franziska looked a bit confused.

"Why is you daughter here?"

"My apprentice thinks I'll wander off if I'm not monitered."

Miles didn't want to keep the small talk up anymore.

"We should be getting back."

Franziska glared at him but nodded and started walking towards the car, walking quickly to try and get Miles to put his chin up and walk a little straighter. She thrust the car door open with quite a bit of angry force.

"Get in and sit down."

"Look, I'm sorry."

"It's a shame that you weren't sorry five minutes ago!"

"I don't get what the big deal is!"

"Perhaps the fact that you treated everyone like shit!"

"Fuck off."

"This is my car, I booked your session, I have actually tried to help you and all you've done is act like a fucking arrogant twat!"

"Well maybe I'm tired of never being allowed to make my own choices!"

"You've be-"

"No! No I haven't, your family have dictated my life since I was a nine year old boy!"

"My father built your career and got you to where you are now!"

There was a stunned silence before Miles replied to that statement.

"He killed my father..."

Everything had become a slow, apologetic calm from both sides. The two of them both looked as though they wanted to cry.

"I-I'm sorry Miles..."

"I know. So am I."

"Let's go."

Miles nodded before resting his head against the car window, turning his head from Franziska and blinking back tears that threatened to roll down his cheeks. It was a task made more difficult by the mammoth lump in his throat that he was also trying to swallow. He shut his eyes in the hope that it would block off the path to his cheeks, even if he knew it was unlikely.

The car stopped at his apartment and just as he was about to get up and out of the car, he was interrupted.

"Miles Edgeworth, I want you to promise to call me if you wake up from a nightmare, regardless of what time it is."

"I promise."

"Good."

Miles nodded and walked slowly to the block of flats* ready to spend a night of pacing and research.

***I'm English, I don't know what the American term is.**

**That wasn't a very good chapter ^_^ **


	4. Chapter 4

**Rating going up to M for pretty explicit descriptions of gore in this chapter.**

**A/N: Hello my little humanoid readers from this Earth and not that one. Chapter three is up even if Phoebe is constantly Facebooking me to say that she's eating Logan. Language in here and Sick!Franziska (because I love it so much and want a Franziska centric chapter that gives time for a Gumshoe/ Edgey working relationship and because I'm sick now. :c (Will not ignore the plot)). MAJOR T&T CASE 4 SPOILERS. **

**Dohnut own. Just own my DS and four video games.**

Franziska went to bed at around ten in the evening, the whole ordeal of the day had given her a headache and it really didn't help that she had to finish a mound of paperwork before she could sleep. She changed into a very comfortable pale blue silk nightgown before going to bed. She tossed herself around a little bit, trying desperately hard to get comfortable. After about half an hour, she decided that this was as comfortable as she was going to get and stayed a fetal position. She shut her eyes and tried to sleep but found that she lost all control of her thoughts. They became frightening everytime she tried to shut her eyes for longer than a second or so. She lay awake for two and a half hours before she heard her cell phone ring out with the lyrics of a somewhat old song.

_It's morning, you wake,_

_A sunray hits your face,_

_Smeared make-_

"Hello, Franziska von Karma speaking,"

"Sorry... Did I wake you?"

"No, I couldn't sleep anyway."

"Okay."

"You had a nightmare."

"Y-yeah..."

"DL-6."

"And then some."

"What does that mean?"

"My first trial..."

"What did that involve?"

"The defendant commited suicide on the stand."

"Why?"

"Dahlia Hawthorne is an evil bitch..."

"Her... again?"

"You don't sound well."

"Don't change the subject."

"She did more than just kill..." Miles' voice was becoming panicked now, each word he spoke becoming shakier and shakier.

"Calm down. I should go, my phone is running out of battery."

"Okay. Give my pen back tomorrow please."

Franziska hung up and groaned, if her headache got any worse she might have to find a knife and impale her head upon it. She sat up and moved the covers away so that she could get out of bed. She stood up slowly, knowing that she'd be dizzied* if she did it any more quickly. Having stood up, she stumbled to her bathroom and opened the cabinet. She found her aspirin almost immediately and, of course, took one with a glass of water.

Franziska finished taking the aspirin, she was a 26 year old woman, it wasn't difficult to do. She went to bed again quietly and quickly, somehow managing to sleep without having to kill herself.

When Franziska woke up the next morning at 7:15 and threw up, she knew it was time to call in sick. She wasn't prepared to give a seemingly bad illness to someone who was already suffering from quite a serious mental health problem; her phone was charged so calling in wasn't a problem anymore.

_"Hello?"_

"Hello, it's Prosecutor von Karma."

_"Ah! M-miss von Karma, what can I do for you?"_

"I won't be at work today. I seem to have caught what's been going around."

_"I see."_

"Tell Detective Gumshoe that if Miles Edgeworth has any bad flashbacks due to his carelessness, he will face me."

_"Y-yes Ma'am. I-I-I'll do so."_

"Stop stuttering... please..."

_"Sorry."_

"Thanks, bye."

_"You're welcome. Goodbye."_

Franziska hung up and got back into bed, falling asleep without checking her fever.

Franziska was awoken by a different part of her ringtone this time, a later part.

_Tell me your awfully sorry that you pushed me into the coff-_

"Hello?"

_"Miss von Karma, pal! I don't know what to do!"_

Franziska sighed.

"What happened?"

_"H-he just started having a flashback and I have no idea how to get him out of it!"_

"He could only have been triggered by something."

_"H-his case is pretty disturbing..."_

"What's going on in there?"

_"The victim was given some sort of a poison-"_

"Which poison?"

_"T-the test results aren't back yet, pal."_

"Fine. Continue."

_"In a really small amount that just made her feel ill. She was locked into a tiny cupboard and had her fingernails ripped off."_

"I probably shouldn't have asked..."

_"Miss von Karma, pal, are you gonna be sick?"_

"I don't think so... Go on."

_"The murderer then went on to find a surgical drill and drilled a tiny, shallowish hole in the victim's stomach."_

"Oh my God..."

_"They left the stomach for a while, letting the victim bleed out for a little while. The victim was gagged for the rest of the murder, whether for torture or quiet I don't know."_

"I think it was for both, detective."

_"Oh hey pal! You're pretty sharp."_

"Won't be whipping my phone, it'll break."

_"So anyway, her leg muscles were removed and then her stomach hole was made bigger."_

"God..."

_"He pretty much rearranged her internal organs by sticking his hand in there."_

"Mein heilige Gott..."

_"Yeah. After she died he opened the cupboard and brought her small intestines with him."_

"Fucking hell..."

_"He wrote the word __**TIME **__with them and then went back in there."_

"Why?"

_"He raped her dead body."_

"Oh God... Detective, put the phone on hold..."

Franziska dropped her phone and darted to the bathroom, spilling out nothing but bile, acid and water into the toilet. She was glad that she hadn't eaten anything. She spat into the sink and spat out water a few times.

_"You okay, pal?"_

"Not really but to be honest, I don't think anyone is."

_"Yep."_

"Who was the victim?"

_"A woman called Vera Misham. The defendant is her boyfriend, Apollo Justice."_

"Ngnn..."

_"So why is Mr. Edgeworth having a flashback?"_

"Died in a tiny cupboard... The cupboard detective, it's a tiny place and someone died in there. Like his father."

_"Oh. Oh my god."_

"What happened."

_"He snapped out of it and is just really, really upset. I'm gonna go."_

"Goodbye."

_"Bye."_

Franziska dropped her phone and curled into a ball, letting herself cry. No-one goes through that, no-one. Franziska cried herself to sleep on the floor. When she woke up, she felt the same but in some sort of way, better because she wasn't locked in an airless cupboard having her intestines pulled out of her body like a string of sausages. Why the hell did Apollo Justice sound so familiar to her anyway? What motive did he have anyway? She couldn't answer those. Or stand for that matter.

**That was disturbing. I don't need to be tested. Don't test me for Psychosis, I don't have it. Psychotic Alice is just a nickname. That chapter was a bit rushed. I wanna write like Sevlow, go read her fanfiction now. **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: So. Many. Hits. I love you all. No really, I actually love you. I don't deserve this many hits, I'm just a little twelve year old with too much time on her hands and still you read my stories. I'ma upload some of my old Pokemon stories completely unedited just for the shits and giggles.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Phoenix Wright. **

_It started with low voices. No-one was panicking, the people who ran court were perfectly competant. It was after four hours when the voices begin rise. Miles was quiet and his father was calm but the baliff was noisy and angry._

_There was a bang._

_There was another bang followed by the scent of fresh blood. It was filling the elevator, the scent diffusing around the tiny dark space._

_Then came the screaming. Then the speech._

"Misham... Justice..."

_It was fuzzy, but enough to snap Miles out of his lost daze._

"W-what is this..." Miles's voice wavered as he asked the question to an occupied man. He waited for five minutes for the phone conversation to end. He swallowed hard, trying to get the painful lump in his throat out of the way to no avail.

"P-pal, I mean sir!" Gumshoe was either shaken up by the previous conversation or just being himself. Miles opted for the former. Miles put himself into a position where no-one could see his eyes becoming a little more wet than usual. Gumshoe slowly and hesitantly put a hand out to try to comfort Miles in some sort of way, just to have Miles tense under his hand. Gumshoe drew away quickly and focused his gaze onto the floor.

" 'Tective?"

Gumshoe brought his eyes up cautiously, "Yes, sir o-or even pal-"

"E-er..."

Gumshoe snapped into a salute, "Sir!"

Gumshoe's body position slackened a little bit, "Pal..."

This incident was one in which Gumshoe would always find Miles very puzzling; instead of glaring at him and threatening to cut his pay as he would normally do, he lifted his head out of it's position on the table and smiled. It was a tiny smile. It was a broken smile. None of that mattered to Gumshoe because a smile like that was still a smile. Cold and broken, but still a hallelujah.

Miles spoke again, his voice thick, "Who was on the phone?"

Gumshoe took on his signature 'lost puppy' look, "Prosecutor von Karma, pal..."

Miles's smile fell as much as such a tiny, broken smile could fall. "How is she?"

Gumshoe's 'puppy look' remained unwavering, "She didn't say anything about health, but she didn't sound well at all."

Miles sighed, "Figures, did you tell her about the-..." Miles's speech cut off mid-sentence.

"P-pal, finish the sent-"

Miles's eyes widened, "Detective, I need a phone."

Gumshoe opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off again.

"_Now_, Detective."

Gumshoe quickly saluted. "Sir."

The detective went as quickly as he could, _without _tripping over anything - astonishing for onlookers to see.

A portable phone found it's way to Miles in the space of about two minutes and within 20 seconds, Miles had dialed a number.

_"'Lo?" _The voice in the otherside, though completely drunken, was sad and pitiful.

"Wright." Miles's voice held no mercy.

_"Whadda you want?"_

"Oh, I don't know, maybe an answer as to why you took on a psychopath!" Miles's voice rose gradually throughout the sentence, though it stayed controlled.

_"'Pollo didn't do it... Anyway, don't I deserve answers?" _Wright sounded genuinely hurt on the other side.

"Answers to what?" Miles's voice was demanding of an answer.

_"The fact that you left me alone and call me just to reprimand me after __**seven years**__, seven years, Edgeworth, it's not like you were just going on a business trip. You left and I had to support a daughter when I couldn't afford to support myself." _Wright's voice was quiet and accusing, making Miles rise up out of his controlled silence.

"You were a fucking hypocrite, Wright! The number of times you ran your mouth off at me about forging evidence when you do it yourself!" Miles was no longer controlling his shout, but instead was going all out on Wright.

_"How many times did I tell you? I told you so many times that I didn't do it and you still left me, I was in love with you and you acted as though you loved me but as soon as I was in a position where I could mark your record, you were through with me! Ever felt like that, Miles?" _The last name was spat sarcastically at Miles, making him shrink back into penitence.

"I'm sorry, okay? I would lie in bed at night and roll over to hug you or comfort you and you weren't there to touch or kiss. Leaving you is the greatest regret of my life and I wish I could see you again." It was only half of the truth, Miles was sorry, but he hadn't regretted his actions until now, Wright was always difficult to see through, even more so now, so he went by what he was told by the public.

_"You always were a master bullshitter, weren't you, Edgeworth." _Wright's voice held traces of bitter laughter, interlaced with venom.

"Phoenix, I-" Miles was cut off by a youthful female voice.

_"Sorry, I'm gonna hang up on you. Daddy didn't mean to be angry, he's just upset at Polly being jailed and stressed about defending the trial tomorrow."_

There was a beep and the line went completely silent. If only the girl knew how very angry Wright really was at him, maybe then she wouldn't spare Miles a kindness that he didn't deserve.

"P-pal, are you okay?" Gumshoe was hesitant and nervous, and became more so as Miles lifted his head up at him slowly and gave him a bitter, broken smile, like his earlier one but somehow, a little more regretful.

Miles voice broke and his smile vanished as he spoke, "Where did I go wrong, Detective?"

**A/N: I'm sorry, was that a bit depressing and Franziska-less... But we get Nick and the good detective, so it's all fine, right? Also, trial next chapter so... be aware of the Apollo. It's also going to get rather more depressing - don't judge me!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: THIS STORY IS BY FAR MY MOST POPULAR STORY! No really, the others have around 49 views in two years, this has over 700 views at the moment, I love you all. ASDFGHJKL, I KEEP DEPRIVING YOU OF FRANNY KARMA! MAJOR AJ: AA SPOILERS.**

Asking Detective Gumshoe that one simple question was all that it took for Miles to break down. He wouldn't cry in front of anyone, but he left the room agitatedly, brushing the name plaque off of his desk as he went and throwing his little blue pawn to the floor. He kicked the door open and let out a quiet moan of frustration as he heard Prosecutor Gavin's music from the other side of the offices. It was screamo today, a genre reserved only when the German prosecutor was undoubtedly close to his breaking point. Which he was, really, he and 'Justice' were close, rumours were floating around about his sexuality and his brother had recently been executed. Miles made a mental note for Franziska and Klavier to have a heart to heart about losing family to execution - heck, he could talk to the kid himself if he wanted to. But he didn't because right now he was on the verge of tears and would either scream or cry if he opened his mouth.

Miles slipped into an empty stall and locked the door quietly, a stark contrast in comparison to his anguished outbursts from earlier on that day. This time, he shut the lid on the toilet and sat down quietly. The lump in his throat wasn't one that could be contested against so Miles let out a tiny sob and put his head into his hands. His breaths came through rough, congested and ragged, each one becoming a half sob in itself. The tears came through quietly at first, like when the air is wet but there's not actually any rain. After around two minutes, Miles's breaths were coming out more quickly and the tears were beginning to seep through the surface. Needless to say, after about 10 minutes, Miles looked like a wreck; he was only just able to keep his sobs muffled and the tears were no longer rain, but instead were the rushing drops of a waterfall, all falling down Miles's eroding cliff of a face together and dropping onto his hands. His phone began to ring, perfect time that, really.

_When you try your best but you don't succeed,_

_When you get what you want but not what you need,_

_When you feel so tired but you can't sleep,_

_Stuck in reverse._

When the person didn't get the message after the song reached it's chorus, Miles decided to see who the _fuck_ was stupid enough not to get the message after a minute of ringing.

"What?" Miles's voice wasn't angry or demanding. It was cold and broken and it wasn't a hallelujah.

_"It's Wright." _Wright, to be brutally honest, sounded almost the same as Miles did. Except he was cold and broken with a glimmer of hope. He was sober again, just hung over. Very, very hung over.

"Phoenix?" Miles had put himself together to answer the phone, but his voice wavered as he spoke.

_"The very one, they've clipped my wings now though." _Wright was breaking. Not his voice, Wright himself. But he was still a lawyer and as long as he was a lawyer, Mia Fey would live on in him.

"H-have you worked to change that?" Miles's voice was beginning to grow thick and rough again.

_"As a wise man once told me, the only time a lawyer can cry is when it's all over. Miles. Pick your remaining pride out of the shredder and multiply it." _Miles nearly laughed, Wright sounded lost in his own world.

"And you, it's not all over?" Miles's lost hope was beginning to find itself, though it was stuck somewhere in the very depths of Miles's heart.

_"No. Kristoph Gavin has been executed-"_

"I know."

_"Shut up. Kristoph Gavin has been executed for murder, as you know. He was also arrested for the same forgery that I lost my badge for." _

"Fuck, Phoenix, I am so damn sorry. I was stupid and acted like a sheep and I followed the crowd because I couldn't pick the truth for myself." It was genuine and sincere and the hope was beginning to build up for Miles.

_"I know. I haven't forgiven you. I don't have any desire for a relationship right now. I still love you though and I hate myself for it. No matter how much I try to focus on the life I have at hand, memories of you and of us keep coming back to me like they were never forgotten. I try so hard not to miss you but my daughter keeps asking when I'm going to get her a new mommy and everytime she does, I think of you and the fact that had you not left, my daughter would actually be able to stay in one school and live a secure life without worrying about whether or not I'll win tonight's income or if I'll come home with another injury." _It was long, true, and fucking soul crushing.

"Sorry." Miles's heart was breaking as he hung up on his former lover. His hallelujah broke again as he shredded his last bits of pride. When would a person like him ever deserve his pride? As he left the bathroom, he held his head high. He didn't deserve pride, but a person like him needn't have any place for self-pity. If he didn't care then he shouldn't feel. All that mattered was the truth... _truth_. Miles knew that he was concealing the truth from himself, he wanted to crawl into a hole and cry until he died; above all, he wanted, needed and yearned for his father. His father was a never-shattering influence of firm kindness that had just gone without warning.

"Sir?"

Miles looked to his side, apparently he was so caught up in his thoughts and gaining false confidence that he'd walked into the wrong side of the building.

"Oh, sorry."

"Herr Edgeworth, look at me." Klavier Gavin was the man whom his focus wasn't quite fixed on.

"Hm?"

"You are unhappy, ja?"

"And you would know?"

"Ja, Herr Edgeworth, mein bruder is dead, mein leibe is in jail. I think I would know."

"Fair enough. What do you mean to prove by it?"

"That you're not alone."

"Explain?"

"I wanna talk."

Edgeworth stared, speechless for a while before nodding. Klavier dragged him into his office and pulled up a couple of chairs.

"Coffee"

"Yes; please."

"How do you take it?"

"Black."

"Alright."

Klavier favoured instant. Miles could drink instant coffee. He sat and sipped at it as Klavier spoke.

"Have you ever just loved someone so much that you forget that they have feelings too and end up fucking it all?" Klavier asked with vengeance towards only himself.

Miles looked towards him in shock before replying.

"Yes. Yes, I have. Coming back to bite me now."

"Ja?"

"Mm."

"I have work to do."

"That was short."

"Please leave, Herr Edgeworth."

"Okay."

So Miles left Klavier alone. Klavier sat and watched before looking to the sky and feeling all the pain in the world.

**Dah. Sorry, I decided against the trial in this chapter, it interfered with what I wanted to do with the chapter as a whole.**


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